I have some ATMEGA328P-AU chips that I'm interested in bootloading and programming using the Adafruit SMT Test Socket - TQFP-32 Breakout. However, I'm new to this and want to ensure that I'm looking at the right Adafruit product for this. Will this program the ATMEGA328P-AU?

Also, is there a pinout or schematic of the test socket available? The data sheet appears to be missing, and forum posts seem to indicate that information on this is sparse. I'd rather not figure out the right pinout by burning out the first 3 chips. ;-)

I'm afraid we don't have a pinout for it ourselves, but if I remember correctly, the pins at the edge of the board stay in sync with the pins on the chip as you go around the package clockwise. You should only need to probe three or four connections to get the whole pattern.

adafruit_support_mike wrote:That socket should work with the chip you linked.

I'm afraid we don't have a pinout for it ourselves, but if I remember correctly, the pins at the edge of the board stay in sync with the pins on the chip as you go around the package clockwise. You should only need to probe three or four connections to get the whole pattern.

Thank you!

However, I'm not sure what you mean by "probe three or four connections". Apologies for the ignorance - I am currently at the "I've hooked up some Arduino Uno boards to NeoPixels, LEDs, buttons, and potentiometers" stage, so I'm not sure how to go about doing what you describe. (I would be using this device to make some simplified versions of an arduino on tiny protoboards or to drive single NeoPixels to fit in small spaces, as opposed to designing my own arduino devices.)

If it's not too much trouble, would you happen to have a link to a tutorial or example video on what you're describing?

Using a multimeter set to measure resistance or continuity, touch one of the meter's probes to any contact in the TSSOP footprint inside the socket (pins at the corners are usually a good place to start), then run the other meter probe along the pins at the edge of the PCB. When you reach the right pin, the resistance will drop below 1 ohm, or the meter will beep indicating a connection.

When that happens, you'll know one connection.

Then move your probe to the next contact in the TSSOP footprint and check the adjacent pins at the edge of the PCB with your meter. Once you know two or three connections, it should be easy to map out the rest without having to probe them.